current affairs

The immigration and asylum office “did not make any mistake” and the information it provided concerning the asylum case of former Macedonian PM Nikola Gruevski was “precise, professional and legitimate”, the interior minister told the press.

Speaking after a meeting of parliament’s national security committee, Sándor Pintér said that “the office never discloses details about such procedures” and added that such information could only be provided to the United Nations.

He also added that the applicant is not bound by rules of secrecy and is free to disclose any details. “This might explain what has been published in the press,” he said.

Ádám Mirkóczki, the head of the committee delegated by conservative Jobbik, said that the Gruevski affair impacts national security. “It must be revealed if Hungarian authorities or secret services had a role [in Gruevski's flight to Hungary], if laws have been violated, and if a convicted criminal can be sheltered in the European Union,” he said.

János Halász, deputy head of the committee delegated by ruling Fidesz, said that “Gruevski is persecuted by a Socialist government backed by [US financier George] Soros”. He insisted that “the opposition has created a political case” around Gruevski’s asylum request. He said that “while migration is on the increase across the Balkans … opposition politicians were only asking questions about the Gruevski affair”.

Zsolt Molnár, a Socialist member of the committee, called the attitude of ruling party deputies “unacceptable” and voiced regret that “important national security questions were not addressed” despite the interior minister’s presence at the committee meeting.

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According to the latest data published by Eurostat, Hungary granted residence permits to 117 thousand people from non-EU countries. This means a 120 percent growth from the year before and this is the highest growth among EU members. We looked at who got those residence permits.

If, as British Embassy in Budapest hopes and expects, a deal is agreed between the EU and UK, the Hungarian government is committed to implementing the UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement, including protecting the current rights of UK nationals legally resident in Hungary on 31 December 2020.

While Viktor Orbán has become one of the loudest advocates of a global anti-immigrant alliance, in Hungary an increasing number of residence permits are issued to foreigners whose purpose of stay remains unclear, reports direkt36.hu.

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